


Dark Alleys

by RoseisaRoseisaRose



Series: Everyday I'm Drabbling [5]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Detective Agency, F/M, but it could be longer, it's just a snippet, mystery solving teens (or twenty-somethings), still! kind of modern, well. the 90s
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:23:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22870168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseisaRoseisaRose/pseuds/RoseisaRoseisaRose
Summary: When Annette Dominic gets a cryptic letter from her generally-absent father, she takes a trip to the city of Fhirdiad to track him down – and hires a private detective that she’s still not entirely sure isn’t sleeping in his office.An experimental snippet of a 1990s Detective AU, written for the Felannie Discord Server’s Drabble Challenge. This week’s challenge was “Crossover.” (Crossovers between Fire Emblem Games are still Crossovers, right?)
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Series: Everyday I'm Drabbling [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1649380
Comments: 10
Kudos: 34
Collections: Those Who Drabble in the Dark





	Dark Alleys

“Shouldn’t you have a cigarette or something?”

“Smoking kills, kid.” Felix didn’t look over as he said it.

Annette Dominic bit her tongue before whining that he couldn’t have been more than a year or two older than her – pouting about an age difference probably wouldn’t help her case, or change his preferred nickname. Instead, she pulled her jacket around her and tried not to shiver in the grey evening drizzle. They were camped out in a back alley down some street Annette wouldn’t have felt comfortable walking down in full daylight. She couldn’t figure out what to do with her arms and had accidentally knocked over an entire row of trashcans as they made their way to wait outside the unmarked back door. Her companion, however, looked every inch the detective she had dreamed of hiring to solve her problems – tan trenchcoat, confident wall-lean, disaffected scowl, and all.

“Your friend isn’t great at punctuality,” Annette said, keeping her teeth clenched to avoid chattering.

Felix shrugged. “I told you; hiring a private investigator doesn’t usually mean following him around. Just go home; I’ll call you next week.”

Annette frowned. “Home” at the moment was a shoddy first-story motel room that she was not particularly eager to get back to. And even if Mercie had sworn up and down that her college boyfriend could vouch for this guy, Annette was still nervous he was going to fleece her, leaving her without information or money. Somehow, the fact he looked the part of a private detective made her all the more suspicious. She didn’t have to explain any of this, however, as the back door opened and, finally, Felix’s confidante poked his head around the corner.

“Felix Fraldarius, as I live and breathe,” he said cheerfully, stepping out from the door and closing the thumping club music in behind him. His brown hair was perfectly tousled and his smile was easy; Annette liked him immediately, and distrusted him immediately because of that. “Felix Fraldarius _and friend_ ,” he added, spying Annette from where she was slightly cowering by a trashcan. “Don’t tell me you’re this asshole’s new partner, Red.”

“She’s a client, and she’s a _lady_ , so watch your mouth, Matthew,” Felix said without any real bite in his voice. “Would you talk to Leila like that?”

Matthew’s smile turned more charming, and Annette trusted him even less. “Depends on if she’s within striking distance,” he joked. He walked down the steps and into the alleyway, briefly grimacing as he realized that there was rain coming down. “So what’s this about?”

Felix nodded towards Annette but spoke only to Matthew. “We’re trying to track down her father. Gustave Dominic, if the name means anything, but I’m thinking he might have had pseudonyms. Guy drops off the face of the earth for years, then sends the kid a cryptic letter out of the blue. Kind of ruined the 21st birthday shots, from what I understand.”

Matthew’s smiles faded a little into confusion. “Sounds like typical deadbeat guilt to me. Save your money, Red.”

Felix continued before Annette could protest. “You didn’t see the letter. But that’s not really your job, is it? What _could_ be your job is if you can tell me about _this_.” Felix held out his hand, and Annette realized he was wanting the necklace she’d showed him when she first hired him. The bizarre, mysterious necklace that her father had sent with that final letter. She fumbled with the clasp, and rather messed up the dramatic timing of the reveal. But after a few awkward moments of silent rain she finally got the necklace free and thrust it forward without looking at either of them. It was hand-carved, an elaborate symbol that looked like it could be a crest, except it was _wrong_ somehow in a way Annette couldn’t put her finger on.

Felix grabbed the necklace and tossed it to Matthew. “I’ve feel like I’ve seen it before but I can’t remember where. Was hoping you could help with that.” Matthew didn’t reply, turning the symbol over in his hand. His smile was gone now. After a moment, Felix prompted, “Is it Fang related?

“Black Fang’s been out of commission for months now,” Matthew said softly. “No. . . this isn’t a calling card I’m familiar with, but I wonder. . .” he trailed off and frowned. He looked up. “You heard of ‘The Dark,’ Fraldarius?” he asked finally.

“Felix. And yeah, it happens every night.”

“Hilarious. No, I mean. Hm. Well, I wouldn’t call them a gang. Or an organization. I’m not sure _what_ to call them. They’re too . . . slithery, for me to get a good sense on them. But there’s rumors flying around about them. Most recently heard that they were involved in the Ordelia massacre. You worked on that case, right?”

“Don't try me; you know even cold cases are proprietary,” Felix snapped. “I’ll need more than a bullshit name if you’re going to try to bait me for information.”

“I’m just saying, it might be a lead,” Matthew said. “Also heard they might be connected to Duscur, you know.”

“I didn’t come down here to listen to conspiracy theories, Matthew,” Felix said sharply. “You listen widely enough and everyone and their mother is connected to fucking Duscur.”

“So much for there being a lady present,” Matthew muttered. Felix glanced over at Annette quickly. For a moment she wondered if he’d forgotten she was there.

“Well, that’s not what I’d call ‘helpful,’ Matthew, but I guess any day we can narrow out the Fang is a good one,” Felix said. “Call me if you get more information on The Darkness or whatever. And if you hear about a Gustave Dominic.”

“Sure thing, buddy. Hey, mind if I hold onto this for a bit?” Matthew held up the necklace. “I might do some digging myself.”

Felix jerked his head towards Annette. He’d already started to walk away, and he didn’t looked back as he answered. “It’s not my call. This one’s very protective of her family heirlooms.”

Annette blushed. She’d swatted Felix’s hands away when he’d first tried to take the necklace to look at it. She couldn’t help herself – this was the only clue she had of where her father could be. She didn’t allow herself to think that it might be the last memory she’d have of him.

Matthew politely ignored her pink cheeks. He twirled the wood carving in his fingers. “What do you say, Lady Red?” he asked her with another charming smile. “You know where I work now, so you can come take an axe to the door if I don’t get it back to you in a timely fashion.” Seeing the color drain from Annette’s face – she’d never picked up an axe in her life, and was rather afraid of them after a particularly ill-advised movie night in middle school – he backtracked quickly. “Or just find me and start crying! I’m a total emotional pushover, I promise.”

Annette still didn’t trust him, but she felt herself nodding. “I don't have an axe but I do have mace,” she said. “Just be careful with it, okay?”

“You have my word. Not that that’s ever meant much to anyone,” he said. His smile dropped at the edges for a minute and he peered at her with concern as he pocketed her father’s carving. “You know, it’s not really my place to say, but a nice girl like you, you don’t have to get involved with people like this.”

“I don’t know who the Fang or the Dark or whatever nonsense names you’re using are, but if they’ve done something to my father, I don’t really care how nice I am. They’re going to pay,” Annette said, with more courage than she felt and more venom than she expected.

Matthew raised his eyebrows. “Well, that’s very brave of you. But those weren’t the guys I was talking about.”

Annette followed his eyes down the alleyway, where Felix waited for her on the corner. His silhouette was hazy in the rain and the darkness and Annette half expected him to vanish into thin air. As she left Matthew and walked out of the alleyway, she wondered if she would be safer if he did.

**Author's Note:**

> Very weird to write a Matthew that’s actually Matthew. But then, not Matthew? He’s familiar, but not too familiar, but not too not familiar? I’ll stop.
> 
> Actually wait no, I do have an author’s note for this. People were tossing around ideas for Detective stuff in the discord, and I was like, oh wow, it’s literally the only genre I’ve ever cared about! So I stole a lot of ideas and Frankenstein-ed this together. I’ll admit at the moment I’m a bit of an author in search of a plot right now, so just take some atmospheric Kathy Rain aesthetics and don’t ask me to explain anything. I’m not really planning on developing anything long-term until Captivating wraps up (in, like, July, at the rate things are going, lolsob), but maaaybe this could be something longer someday? Lemme know if you’d read it; I live or die by your validation, gentle readers.


End file.
